Recently, I’ve been struggling with two very opposing thoughts.
1. I want to travel, see more of the world, get uncomfortable, nomadic living, etc…
2. I want to settle, have a room I can call my own, have roommates, make my own foods, etc…
I wouldn’t call it a dilemma. If I were an outsider looking in on my own life, or talking to myself as I am right now over breakfast or pizza, I would say I’m in that weird in-between all 20-somethings deal with after they’ve graduated college and are trying to do their best with what they have. The experiences I had right out of college are enough to make one hunger for it again, but I think that we are also wired in our human nature to desire settling somewhere with a husband or a community of people we can live safely around and call home (or both).
Growing up, my thoughts and dreams have morphed in different ways. As a kid, it was dreaming about singing my own songs in front of a crowd of people, traveling across country to sing in different cities like Hilary Duff did. As a teenager, it morphed into maybe doing a Broadway Play. In college, it turned into a dream to one day work for National Geographic and combine the one thing I knew I was always good at (writing) and the other thing I had always desired to do underneath all the others (travel). Then I left for a year, both traveling and writing for an organization I deeply care about, sharing love, hope, and joy with cultures across Africa, Asia, and Central America… And I ended up falling in love with the nomadic lifestyle of both staying and going when it was time.
I’ve been in New Hampshire for nearly three months now and I find myself dreaming about moving into an apartment or home with a few people, which is probably the most normal thought I’ve had since returning. The desire to have a place to call home after a full day at work, a community, a kitchen, and a refrigerator stocked with my own choice of food after grocery shopping. I want to learn how to cook healthy meals and I desire to have a table to gather around at the end of the day with house mates.
I think that both of these things are amazing. They are worthy of being considered as paths I could potentially take moving forward in my life. Both are dreams, one a little more simple than the other while the other can cater a little more to my free-spirit. I think that dreams are always worthy of chasing and going after if they are things we really want at the end of the day, no matter how big or small. As a 20-something millennial Christian, all I really want is to know I am living a good life that makes me happy. I want to know my life is overflowing onto others in joy because of the love of the Holy Spirit in me. I want to live a life that is fulfilling my God-given gifts and talents. I understand that what I write creates impact, which is why I continue to do it. But furthermore, I’d challenge my readers and myself alike to really believe that the way we are physically living our lives can leave just as much or even more impact on the people we encounter on a daily basis.
I do love traveling, but I also love the idea of living every day in a place with others and living adventures worthy of being written about as a 20-something millennial. Just because I’m not jetting off to a new country every month doesn’t mean I can’t drive somewhere in New England to meet up with friends or even fly somewhere in the United States that I haven’t been to meet new people and friends. I am not chained or bound to one thing, place, person, etc… I have nothing holding me back! I think that’s what I love and what is most unique about this weird in-between place in my life. Sure, I have roots that are a part of me and they will remain a part of me until the day I die, but not being held back and having the ability to still dream big the way that I do is unique and fulfilling for someone my age. I know I can follow where my heart leads me, because in the end, all will work out and I will make it to a new day.
I challenge you to dream big. Don’t ever stop striving to see your dream come true — no matter how big or small, outrageous or far-fetched.
What’s your dream? What’s stopping you?
